May 6 Escape to Bermuda

Overall the cruise was great. NCL staff was consistently great and the Escape a wonderful ship.

A couple of thoughts.

Embarkation hit a snag because of a Coast Guard drill and everything was pushed back a bit. We arrived at the pier early and were checked in by 10:30. Received our boarding group #8. They announced a Coast Guard drill was in progress and there would be delays in boarding. At some point they stopped allowing folks into the terminal to check in due to crowding. A little after noon they announced they were going to begin boarding. Unfortunately instead of using the PA system a NCL staff member shouted out boarding groups; so you had to get close enough to hear him. Pretty lame; a couple of thousand folks pushing in trying to get within earshot. Not pleasant. I think they called our group to board around 1:00.

We were on board, grabbing a champagne (UDP) around 2:00 . Went to Headliners to adjust our dining reservations. The Coast Guard drill pushed everything back though. Rooms were not ready as in the past, luggage not delivered until after the life boat drill @ 3:30. With muster completed, bags delivered and dining plans fixed all the "business items" were completed and we were able to start to relax.The ship pulled out a little past 4:00

The weather wasn't good Monday & Tuesday so we used the gym, shopped, and gambled. We saw the shows: After Midnight and For the Record; both were great.

Wednesday we were in Bermuda and decided to take the NCL free ferry to St Georges. A little confusion here since they did not advertise it on the ship or in the dailies. I grabbed an officer on the pier and he gave me a sheet with the schedule for our our visit (file attached); first ferry was 9:45 (later that the schedule posted on line). Also it took a while to find where the ferry would dock. We finally found it would dock just off the roadway feeding to the dockyard on the Heritage Wharf side (a different loc than the map indicated). Norwegian's free ferry to St Georges was a great benefit. Docked close to the ship it relieved all the hassle of getting ferry tix, etc. The schedule I attached was for our visit, recommend anyone visiting get one for their visit.

We always enjoy walking around St Georges; shopping and exploring. Stopped at the World Heritage Museum to learn a few historical facts, watched a video. We had lunch at the White Horse Inn. On the way back to take the last ferry to the Dockyard (5:30) we stopped into the newly renovated "The Warf" for a cool adult beverage. The place looked great. Worth noting that on the ferry back we chated with a couple that had rented a scooter to tour the island. Quite a few folks offered bandages for the road rash they both had gotten form that experience. Recommend you do not rent scooters.

Back at the Dockyard most of the shops were closed and we were hungry so we stopped a Frog & Onion for diner. Its a brew pub with excellent amber ale & porter. We ate there a number of times during our visit; Jerome on staff was great.

Thursday was time for a trip to Horseshoe Bay. We used the mini-buses to go to there and back; it costs $7 each way (replaced the shuttle from 2 years ago). We rented 2 lounges and an umbrella for $45 and relaxed. The water was comfortable, just under cool. Walked up the beach towards Warwick and marveled at the huge rocks & cliffs in the water. Noticed that the lifeguards had picked up the odd Portuguese man-o-war that was on the beach. No problem, in our experience they're always in the waters.

Friday was a dreary day so we shopped a bit in the Dockyard. Around the corner from the Frog and Onion is an Arts Center, local artists work, very well done and reasonable prices.We've always found a painting & craft work to take home.One last pint at the F&O and back on board.

Saturday turned out to be mild so up to the pool deck. Tried the ropes course, very nice; larger than the one on the Breakaway. The tube slide was a hoot; unfortunately the drop slides were down for maintenance. The ship was full but found 2 deck chairs without much trouble. The pool was small but not packed so we enjoyed it. Unfortunately no one was enforcing the "no one under 13 in the hot tub" rule. Appeared to me that a number of young mothers thought is was a day care option; I guess they thought we wouldn't let the kids drown so they dropped the kids in and drank/danced nearby. I got tired of telling the kids (4 to 8) not to splash so I left. I really wish NCL would enforce their rules.

We love Bermuda, this was our 5th NCL cruise to the island and we think they do a great job.

Bermuda is a pretty island, do some homework before you go and it'll cut down on confusion there.

This was our first time on the Escape, last three Bermuda visits were on the Breakaway. Although we missed the NY vibe on the Breakaway the Escape had some improvements. Our cabin steward Rose Marie was great; we particularly loved her towel animals.

One item worth noting was the Escape's wifi, it was great, better than Breakaway (or Anthem). I had received a 250 min wifi plan when I booked; I backed that up with a cruise package from AT&T. The package covered on ship as well as on Bermuda, for $100 it gave me 200MB data, unlimited talk and text. Best practice to minimize conflict on the iPhone was when using wifi turned off cellular data roaming. When using cellular turned off wifi.

Disembarking was pretty simple, I'd grabbed pink luggage tags in the atrium and that gave me an approx time to leave of 9:20. If I would have read the dailies I would have noted I could have had yellow tags based on Latitudes category with a 9:05 call. The line to get off was basically a tour of the whole deck front to back, no problem. I do think the NCL folks we past should have pulled a couple in their 80's off the line to the assisted exit; he was really struggling. We were off the ship, found our luggage, used a porter, and were on the street by 10:30, excellent. Just a point, Customs no longer require a declaration form unless you exceed allowances. This might be highlighted better in the disembark aid; I spent too much time trying to verify I didn't need the form.

Net-net the cruise was great, the Escape a great ship with an amazing staff. We look forward to our next voyage.

Thanks for the review, we'll be on her in Sept!

 

Back at the Dockyard most of the shops were closed and we were hungry so we stopped a Frog & Onion for diner. Its a brew pub with excellent amber ale & porter. We ate there a number of times during our visit; Jerome on staff was great.

We were on the same sailing as you. We were at the Frog & Onion on Friday after getting rained on while putt putting. Jerome waited on us as well. Very nice guy.

Overall the cruise was great. NCL staff was consistently great and the Escape a wonderful ship.

 

A couple of thoughts.

 

Embarkation hit a snag because of a Coast Guard drill and everything was pushed back a bit. We arrived at the pier early and were checked in by 10:30. Received our boarding group #8. They announced a Coast Guard drill was in progress and there would be delays in boarding. At some point they stopped allowing folks into the terminal to check in due to crowding. A little after noon they announced they were going to begin boarding. Unfortunately instead of using the PA system a NCL staff member shouted out boarding groups; so you had to get close enough to hear him. Pretty lame; a couple of thousand folks pushing in trying to get within earshot. Not pleasant. I think they called our group to board around 1:00.

We were on board, grabbing a champagne (UDP) around 2:00 . Went to Headliners to adjust our dining reservations. The Coast Guard drill pushed everything back though. Rooms were not ready as in the past, luggage not delivered until after the life boat drill @ 3:30. With muster completed, bags delivered and dining plans fixed all the "business items" were completed and we were able to start to relax.The ship pulled out a little past 4:00

The weather wasn't good Monday & Tuesday so we used the gym, shopped, and gambled. We saw the shows: After Midnight and For the Record; both were great.

 

Wednesday we were in Bermuda and decided to take the NCL free ferry to St Georges. A little confusion here since they did not advertise it on the ship or in the dailies. I grabbed an officer on the pier and he gave me a sheet with the schedule for our our visit (file attached); first ferry was 9:45 (later that the schedule posted on line). Also it took a while to find where the ferry would dock. We finally found it would dock just off the roadway feeding to the dockyard on the Heritage Wharf side (a different loc than the map indicated). Norwegian's free ferry to St Georges was a great benefit. Docked close to the ship it relieved all the hassle of getting ferry tix, etc. The schedule I attached was for our visit, recommend anyone visiting get one for their visit.

We always enjoy walking around St Georges; shopping and exploring. Stopped at the World Heritage Museum to learn a few historical facts, watched a video. We had lunch at the White Horse Inn. On the way back to take the last ferry to the Dockyard (5:30) we stopped into the newly renovated "The Warf" for a cool adult beverage. The place looked great. Worth noting that on the ferry back we chated with a couple that had rented a scooter to tour the island. Quite a few folks offered bandages for the road rash they both had gotten form that experience. Recommend you do not rent scooters.

Back at the Dockyard most of the shops were closed and we were hungry so we stopped a Frog & Onion for diner. Its a brew pub with excellent amber ale & porter. We ate there a number of times during our visit; Jerome on staff was great.

Thursday was time for a trip to Horseshoe Bay. We used the mini-buses to go to there and back; it costs $7 each way (replaced the shuttle from 2 years ago). We rented 2 lounges and an umbrella for $45 and relaxed. The water was comfortable, just under cool. Walked up the beach towards Warwick and marveled at the huge rocks & cliffs in the water. Noticed that the lifeguards had picked up the odd Portuguese man-o-war that was on the beach. No problem, in our experience they're always in the waters.

 

Friday was a dreary day so we shopped a bit in the Dockyard. Around the corner from the Frog and Onion is an Arts Center, local artists work, very well done and reasonable prices.We've always found a painting & craft work to take home.One last pint at the F&O and back on board.

 

Saturday turned out to be mild so up to the pool deck. Tried the ropes course, very nice; larger than the one on the Breakaway. The tube slide was a hoot; unfortunately the drop slides were down for maintenance. The ship was full but found 2 deck chairs without much trouble. The pool was small but not packed so we enjoyed it. Unfortunately no one was enforcing the "no one under 13 in the hot tub" rule. Appeared to me that a number of young mothers thought is was a day care option; I guess they thought we wouldn't let the kids drown so they dropped the kids in and drank/danced nearby. I got tired of telling the kids (4 to 8) not to splash so I left. I really wish NCL would enforce their rules.

We love Bermuda, this was our 5th NCL cruise to the island and we think they do a great job.

Bermuda is a pretty island, do some homework before you go and it'll cut down on confusion there.

 

This was our first time on the Escape, last three Bermuda visits were on the Breakaway. Although we missed the NY vibe on the Breakaway the Escape had some improvements. Our cabin steward Rose Marie was great; we particularly loved her towel animals.

One item worth noting was the Escape's wifi, it was great, better than Breakaway (or Anthem). I had received a 250 min wifi plan when I booked; I backed that up with a cruise package from AT&T. The package covered on ship as well as on Bermuda, for $100 it gave me 200MB data, unlimited talk and text. Best practice to minimize conflict on the iPhone was when using wifi turned off cellular data roaming. When using cellular turned off wifi.

Disembarking was pretty simple, I'd grabbed pink luggage tags in the atrium and that gave me an approx time to leave of 9:20. If I would have read the dailies I would have noted I could have had yellow tags based on Latitudes category with a 9:05 call. The line to get off was basically a tour of the whole deck front to back, no problem. I do think the NCL folks we past should have pulled a couple in their 80's off the line to the assisted exit; he was really struggling. We were off the ship, found our luggage, used a porter, and were on the street by 10:30, excellent. Just a point, Customs no longer require a declaration form unless you exceed allowances. This might be highlighted better in the disembark aid; I spent too much time trying to verify I didn't need the form.

 

Net-net the cruise was great, the Escape a great ship with an amazing staff. We look forward to our next voyage.

We were on this cruise as well and had a great time. When we received our tags I was concerned we didnt get the declaration form and was told we didnt need it. However talking to someone else they said if you have anything to declare eg. cigarettes, you have to fill the form out.

Glad you had a good time! Thanks!

Hi when you took the first ferry out what time did you arrive in St George's

Thanks for taking the time to share this.

Hi when you took the first ferry out what time did you arrive in St George's

The trip was slow on our visit about an hour and a half. My understanding is that the current ferry will be replaced with a faster one when it comes on-line.

Do you think it's better just to pay the fare and take the regular ferry instead of the complementary ncl one? I'd like to get there as early as possible to get a full day at the beach.

Do you think it's better just to pay the fare and take the regular ferry instead of the complementary ncl one? I'd like to get there as early as possible to get a full day at the beach.

Recent reports elsewhere are that the proper NCL ferry is now in place and the journey is taking approximately 45 minutes which is the same as the paid for ferry. I think the departure times may be slightly different though, so whichever one leaves first may work best for you.

Ok thanks!